Chloe's Leavers Blog - finally :)

Sam wrote about our performance last week

Miners memorial. I have to say, it was not a project that I originally intended to be involved in. I spend an awful lot of time worrying about these sorts of things and also I was terribly unnerved by the fact that my old English teacher – renowned as the scariest in the school no less -  would most probably be in the audience.  In the end I saw sense, with a little gentle persuasion, and decided that I would like to be part of it.

Now, I don’t mean to say the obvious and predictable things that you will have no doubt heard about this sort of project countless times before, but I am beyond glad that I ended up getting involved. It was very different to they types of performance I have grown accustomed to, both in style, purpose and tone. Sitting in the audience just before we went up showed me just how much it would mean to some of the people. We heard speakers from the NUM and from the Mayor of Barnsley, highlighting  just a few of the many mining disasters that have happened in the past who showed us just how mining has had an incomprehensible effect on many lives; the rich history of mining is integral to who we are, where we came from and what we will become.

A few people worthy of mention from our performance:

·         Lucy, the smallest member of the cast who spoke loudly and clearly.

·         Bobbie, she did an outstanding job with her “mother” speech #Emotional.

·         Alan, aka Lucy’s Dad, who played the cornet for us.

·         Merv and Jess’ lift in the “Risks” section.

·         Everyone else, just because they are all fab and learned their lines and are fab.

·         Me, of course.

That is the important bit out of the way.

I have say that these Saturday afternoons have been rather like an egg and cucumber sandwich; a  rare and satisfying treat. As a latecomer to the creation of the service, I have no doubt missed an awful lot, but still I have learned about Yorkshire’s mining heritage in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to elsewhere. In addition, in my first encounter with Gemma in a workshop situation, I was most impressed by her witty and never ending  humour along with her abnormally large feet.

During the rehearsal, I found myself considering  Sarah’s “Voices” blog from a couple of weeks ago. I think that the miners memorial is a perfect example of when your voice is important. I have said already that remembering the miners like we did today means a great deal to those who worked in the mining industry and those affected by the various disasters. Apparently it showed , according to none other than the Mayoress of Barnsley herself we all spoke with confidence and sincerity.

During a run, Gemma gave me a quizzical look too which was slightly more accusational than she intended but that was no matter as it lead to an interesting topic of conversation over our lunch, meaning that we almost entirely forgot the lack of buns or other sweets. Nice sandwiches though, egg and cucumber. (To those of you who were on my table, I think this is mission accomplished?)

Just before I go, it would be criminal not to mention the Maltby Miners Welfare Band. They were, by definition, fabulous. Okay, maybe fabulous isn’t the right word, but I enjoyed it very much and I thought it was a fitting and tremendously terrific tribute to those who were lost in Barnsley’s pits.

That’s it then, I can go and revise (a practice that I can assure you is pointless for an utter genius such as myself), just one thing left to say: bring on Halloween at Nostel, BOOM!